SL Army continues to rob material remains of houses before releasing Valikaamam lands

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 April 2018, 22:13 GMT]The occupying Army of genocidal Sri Lanka makes it a routine to rob the remaining roof tiles, wooden door and window frames off of their houses every time it releases a pocket of land to the uprooted people of Valikaamam in Jaffna. The stolen material is transported into the military zones fenced away for civilian access. Also this time, a widespread pattern of robbing of structures has been witnessed by the people, who are preparing to resettle near the coast of Mayiliddi. In the meantime, the SL Resettlement Ministry is set to channel 830 millions of rupees of foreign aid to the SL military for further consolidation of military bases in the name of releasing lands. The people who get their lands are also left with the burden of cleaning the jungles. The SL authorities have no concern for the infrastructure of the resettlement.

People walking to their lands in recently released coastal pockets of Valikaamam North in Jaffna. Uprooed people from Thenmayilai, Mayiliddi North and Thaiyiddi East, located west of Mayhiliddi - Kadduvan Road from the GS divisions of J/240, J/246 and J/247 have been allowed to resettle in released pockets of their lands in Valikaamam North. They access the lands for the first time after 1990. SL military is still stationed in three to five camps in the area fencing off the released pockets from civilian access. The stolen material have been transported closer to the military camps, according to the welfare organisations of uprooted people from Valikaamam North.

The state of the Multi Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS) building located near the junction of Kadduvan - Mayiliddi Road. The resettling people have no facilities such as the MPCS to look after themselves.

The destroyed church of Our Lady of Holy Rosary at Mayiliddi North in Valikaamam

How come much of the frames of the doors and windows of the houses inside the fenced off military zones are intact while all such structures have been dismantled in the released pockets, the representatives of the uprooted people in Valikaamam ask. They say the plunder has taken place within the last six months.

SL military commander, Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake was claiming on the traditional new year that the release of lands was a gift to the people. He also went on record that the uprooted people living in 9 of the 34 IDP camps could now return to their houses.

But, at Uduppiddi, 120 people belonging to 17 families had to vacate their so-called welfare camp because of a court ruling that they should release it back to the private property owner. The authorities have made no alternative arrangements to the suffering uprooted people.

The so-called Resettlement Ministry is only a channelling agent and facilitator of consolidating the occupying Sinhala military. Foreign Establishments, despite having first-hand information on the happenings through their diplomatic missions and NGO contacts, also have no concern of civilian resettlement as they had during the times of war and negotiations, the representatives of uprooted people in Valikaamam said.

The families ousted from Uduppiddi welfare camp are living in open public land in temporary tarpaulin huts.

The families went to the extent of urging SL Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera to arrange for at least proper temporary shelter. But, there has been no action, even from Samaraweera who claims to have allocated millions of US dollars for industrialisation of the war-affected North and East.